


A Man They Loved

by TheFoolsKnightober (TheFoolsKnight)



Series: Whumptober 2020 [8]
Category: The Eldest Curses Series - Cassandra Clare, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Illusions, M/M, Magic, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:22:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26897389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFoolsKnight/pseuds/TheFoolsKnightober
Summary: Whumptober Day 8 - IsolationIt's been a week since the funeral, and Magnus had been locked up in his apartment ever since. To say the least - Max and Rafael were extremely worried.
Relationships: Magnus Bane & Alec Lightwood & Max Lightwood-Bane & Rafael Lightwood-Bane, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Whumptober 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947043
Comments: 6
Kudos: 52





	A Man They Loved

He was standing under the streetlight, dressed in a long brown overcoat, and was looking up forlornly at the dark apartment windows. Rafael stepped closer to him, flexing his shoulder still sore from training, and said, “Is he still in there?”

Max nodded. “He hasn’t stepped out since… since that afternoon.”

Rafael bit his lip and nodded, joining his brother’s side and staring up at the windows with worry etched into his features. The last time he had seen his father was about a week ago, in Idris in funeral white. After the last rites were over, he’d told the two of them that he wanted to be alone for a while, and portalled away. The loft had been locked up ever since, and for several nights there had been no sign of anyone living there. The lights were turned off at all times, no one ever went in or out. Magnus wasn’t answering his phone at all, and for a while Rafael had wondered whether he had decided to move away to another country, but all fracking runes and spells led them here. Rafael was currently residing at the institute, and Max had a place of his own, so while they didn’t have to worry about sleeping arrangements, they both were extremely worried about their father.

“I tried calling him,” Max said in a low voice. He was all grown up now, so different from the chubby little boy he used to be. “He didn’t pick up. Not once.”

“Any word from uncle Ragnor and aunt Catarina?” Rafael asked. From an outside perspective, it might have looked weird - Rafael referring to them as aunt and uncle when they looked about the same age as him, if not younger - but it had been a habit from childhood.

Max shook his head, his gaze falling to the ground. “No. They’ve tried contacting him, but nothing.”

Rafael nodded. “I wish he’d just open the door.”

“He loved him,” Max said softly. “That- that couldn’t have been easy. He probably just needs some time.”

Rafael’s throat suddenly felt tight. “We loved him, too.”

“We did,” Max said, and his voice shook. “Rafe-“

Rafael said no more. He turned and pulled his brother into a hug, and Max hugged back hard, burying his hiccuping sobs into Rafael’s chest. Rafael held him tight, a hard ball of grief burning painfully within his chest.

They stayed there for a long time. Neither noticed the flicker of curtains behind the window, the flash of a cat-like eye.

“Magic?” Rafael echoed, staring at Ragnor in front of him. “What king of magic?”

They stood in the vast entryway of the Institute, Rafael still dressed in his training clothes, utterly unprepared for the visit from his uncle.

Ragnor cleared his throat. “There’s nothing too dangerous, but there’s a lot of magic being cast in that house. I’m afraid Magnus could be up to something.”

“You don’t think-“ Rafael didn’t have to voice the rest of his question.

“Magnus would never perform necromancy,” Ragnor said, shaking his head. “There’s no trace of dark magic, just… a lot of it. I can’t tell what kind it is, though. But I’m worried about Magnus. This isn’t the first time he’s faced something like this, of course, but he’s taking it very hard.”

Rafael nodded. “He is. What do you think the magic is all about?”

“I have no idea,” Ragnor confessed. “But it is certainly worrying. I suggest you and Max pay him a visit immediately.”

“We’ve tried,” Rafael said. “He didn’t open the door. It’s almost as if he’s not inside the house anymore.”

“But he is,” Ragnor said. “And the faster you go to meet him, the better.”

Ragnor clapped Rafael on the shoulder, and shrugged on his coat. “I’ll get going now. Take care.”

Max and Rafael stood in front of the large wooden door. They’d knocked several times, banged on the wood until it nearly splintered, and called out for Magnus, but there was nary a sound from within. Now they stood in silence, waiting for  _ something.  _

Rafael drew a rune on his arm, meant to enhance his hearing, and pressed his ear to the wood. After a few seconds, he could hear voices from within, faint murmurs from the direction of his fathers’ bedroom.

“I can hear voices,” Rafael whispered, his heart rate.

“Voices plural?” Max asked. “Is there someone else in there with bapak?”

“I don’t know,” Rafael said, stepping away from the door. “We’ve never seen anyone else enter, right?”

“No,” Max confirmed. Rafael nodded, braced himself, and then rammed his shoulder into the door.

“What are you doing?!”

“Breaking in,” Rafael said through gritted teeth. “We don’t really have a choice, do we? Opening runes don’t work on his door.”

Max made a faint noise of protest, but Rafael ignored him and rammed in a second time. On the third try, the door broke open. Rafael moved it aside and stepped in, and froze.

The house was clean - perhaps a little too clean, the floors scrubbed and free of any litter. The heavy curtains were drawn across the windows, blocking any light from entering into the house. Rafael and Max stepped further into the house, taking in the immaculate collection of couches and armchairs that littered the living room. The voices were slightly louder now, and they were definitely coming from the bedroom, somewhat muffled by the closed door.

Rafael went over to the room and threw the door open, Max right on his heels. 

They froze.

Inside the room, Magnus and the other person, both sitting on the bed, paused and turned to look at them at the same time. From beside him, Rafael heard Max take in a sharp breath.

“Dad?” he said.

It  _ was  _ Alec, staring at them with wide eyes set in an ageless face. The unruly black hair, the curve of his nose, the cheekbones… it was all him.

The last time he had seen him, his eyes were bound by white silk.

“Bapak,” Rafael said, turning to Magnus, his heart beating fast as he remembered Ragnor’s words. “What have you-“

Max gripped his arm, cutting him off.

“It’s not real,” Max muttered. Rafael looked at him, and then at Alec, whose expression was mildly bewildered, as if he didn’t recognise either of them. 

Magnus looked between the two of them with a subdued face. He had the face of someone who had just been broken out of a daze, and leaned in to kiss Alec on the cheek. Alec’s face broke out into a small, soft smile, and he turned to look at Magnus, but his form shimmered and, like the foam of a wave that had broken on the shore, faded away.

Magnus’s eyes softened for a moment while he watched his husband disappear, and then turned to Rafael and Max.

“What are you two doing here?” he asked in a low voice. “I told you, I needed to be alone.”

“We were worried about you,” Max said, stepping forward. “You were locked up in here, and you wouldn't step out or answer any of calls, so-"

Magnus sighed, slumping back into the pillows. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and said, "Well, can't say I'm surprised. I haven't been able to keep you from raiding the candy stash when you were younger. I shouldn't be surprised to see you in here right now."

"Bapak-"

"How bad is the damage?" Magnus asked, directing his pointed gaze to Rafael. "How did you get in? A door? A window? A bulldozer through the wall?"

"The door," Rafael said, then shook his head. "But that's not the point. What was that?!" Rafael pointed to the spot where the illusion of Alec had been a few moments ago. "What were you doing?!"

Magnus stared at them a long moment. "Isn't it obvious? I miss him."

They were silent.

"I miss his smile," Magnus went on, his eyes dropping down to the empty spot next to him on the bed. "I miss his laughter, his voice, his love, his-  _ Everything." _

Magnus sighed, and almost inconspicuously, his arm moved to the right, caressing the spot where Alec used to sleep. "I miss him so, so much."

"We miss him too, bapak," Max said in a low voice. "We all do."

Magnus let out a dry chuckle. "Of course you do. I-"

He broke off, staring into the distance, his eyes blank. It almost scared Rafael to see his father like this. All his life, Magnus had been the cool, collected one. It was unnerving, to say the least, to see him like this now.

"I didn't mean to ignore you both, I just-" Magnus closed his eyes, composing himself. "How have you been? Max, Rafe?"

Rafael let out a sigh of a breath, and he and Max moved in at once, clambering into their bapak's outstretched arms. Magnus was dressed in a plain robe, the silky material cool against Rafael's cheek as he held on. Magnus's arms were tight around them, and for a moment they were just a father and his two sons, mourning the death of a loved one.

"I just need some time, my sweethearts," Magnus said, his voice broken. "I'll come back to you, I promise."

"We're here, bapak," Max said in a strangled voice, his arms tight around Magnus. "We're here for you. Don't forget about us, please."

"I won't, blueberry," Magnus promised, kissing them both on the top of their heads. "I won't."

They stared there for a long time, holding on to each other, mourning a man they all once loved, and loved still, a man who had changed all their lives for the better.


End file.
